Petra's Story
by Nate Grey
Summary: Petra the Venus Djinni plots a daring escape from her captors, the horrible Adepts, but she can't get any Djinn to go with her!


Notes: I know the Adepts are important, but there's not enough focus on the Djinn.  

Summary: After being captured, Petra the Venus Djinni plans a daring escape…only to find that no one is interested in joining her.

Petra's Story

A Golden Sun: The Lost Age Fanfic by

Nate Grey (XMAN0123@aol.com)

It was a beautiful day.  The birds were singing, the sun was shining, the Slayers were capering about…

…what?  You haven't SEEN dancing until you've seen a Slayer caper.  There was this one—Roy—leaped like his leggings were on fire!

Anyway, it was a great day on the continent of Hesperia.  See, we don't get a whole lot of company (coughpeskyhumanscough) over here, so we cherish each peaceful day to the fullest.  Basically, singing and capering the days away (did I mention that kook Roy? I'm almost sure I did).  I know, probably doesn't sound all that great to you.  But YOU'RE probably a human.  No, YOU can't have fun unless you're smashing or stomping or shooting the life out of something.  Well, the more civilized creatures of Weyard can get along just fine without all that violence.  

Take me, for example.  Name's Petra.   Me, I'm a Venus Djinni.  Bet you don't even know what those are, huh?  Well, to make a long story short, we're nature spirits.  Most of us Djinn match up with a single element: Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind (which in turn match up with Venus, Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter, respectively).  There are others, but YOU don't need to know about them.

Most Djinn are fairly peaceful and just want to be left alone.  You don't bug us, everything's cool.  You get up in our faces, and most of us have the tendency to get downright nasty.   Heck, how would YOU feel if someone stood over you all high and mighty like you were next to nothing?  Lemme tell ya, pisses us off REAL quick.

The lucky ones manage to avoid humans.  They tend to hide out in remote places where humans are unlikely to go.  Those are your stationary Djinn.  I like being mobile, though.  You never know when someone's gonna come along and start wrecking the place, right?  So I worked out a deal with the Slayers I live around.  When humans show up, they provide the distraction while I make like a banana and split.  It works pretty well, as there aren't too many humans that can brush off a bunch of Slayers.  I guess that's how they got their name, but I wouldn't know.  Again, Hesperia's pretty deserted, and we like it that way.

So you can imagine our surprise when one day, Buford—random Slayer—comes running up shouting, "HUMANS!  HUMANS ON THE WAY!!!"

Now you have to understand, this is a very big deal for us.  Humans only ever want two things around here: experience and stolen goods.  Unfortunately, they can get both by rubbing out my overgrown pals.  I'm lucky they don't know too much about Djinn, or I'd be in real trouble.  All the same, it's best not to be spotted.  So I duck under the nearest rock while the guys get ready.

I bet you think Slayers roam the woods looking for blood.  Well, that's just an act.  They don't do that unless they know humans are nearby.  It's just to keep up appearances.  It's honestly pretty funny, too.  One minute, they're all standing around talking about the weather, and the next they're growling and waving their swords around.

After a few minutes, sure enough, I hear human footsteps.  They walk so loud, or maybe it's just me.  Seems like there's only one this time, though.  This'll be an easy scare, I think to myself.

Only the minute I finally spot the human, I know that won't be the case.  He's a tall one, with dark eyes and a face like a rock.  Not ugly, but stony, like nothing phases him.  You have to watch that kind, they're hard to spook and even harder to get rid of.  He's dressed in green and has this blue rag hanging off his shoulder.  I guess it could be a cape, but that's not important.  He's holding a mean-looking sword.  That IS important.

The first Slayer to try his luck is an older one named Ferdinand.  He's big, but a little slow.  People tend to run from him first, so we don't hold it against him.

The human doesn't run.  He spots Ferdinand, jumps up, and raises his sword.  Well, that's nothing new.  

What IS new is the HUGE FLAMIN' METEOR COMIN' OUTTA THE SKY?!

…okay, something's not right here.  And I don't mean the way poor Ferdy doesn't even get to scream as the meteor crushes/burns him to death, although I have to admit that IS quite disturbing.  Humans aren't that strong!  Even with enchanted weapons, there's just NO way in Weyard one should be able to do that!  And…and…crap, why's he looking…over…oh…oh no.  Oooooooh dear.

That's when it hits me.  Humans aren't that strong.  Humans can't sense Djinn.  Humans can't beat Slayers.

Adepts can.

Well, remind me to tear Buford a new one the next time I see him.  I mean, HONESTLY.  You just don't mistake Adepts for HUMANS, that's NUTS!  Adepts are WAY more annoying, not to mention powerful lil' suckers.  You don't mess with them; they're ALL CRAZY!  They roam the world like it's theirs, and worst of all, they enslave poor Djinn into doing all their dirty work!  It's just not RIGHT!

Mind you, I'm thinking all this while running for my life.  Adepts are very fast, and this one's no exception.  Worse yet, I can smell the stink of my poor imprisoned brothers and sisters on him, which means he's an Venus Adept.  This day just can't GET any worse.  No doubt he wants to add poor defenseless Petra to his collection, but this is one Djinni he's gonna have to work for.

I run until I reach a dead end.  You think I'd know my way around by now, I only LIVE here.  But after all that running, the mountains all look the same, and it's hard to tell one gray blur from another.  And here comes the Adept.  Dammit, I WAS enjoying this day.  See, I hate fighting.  Which doesn't mean that I can't do it, just that I don't like it.  But I can tell from the look in this Adept's eyes that he's tough.  Plus the whole meteor-sword thing, which I'm hoping he can't do twice in five minutes.  He starts inching towards me, and I'm wondering if I'm quick enough to dive through his legs.

THEN he has to go and split into eight people.  Damn Adepts and their stupid mind tricks!!!

It turns out there's TWO Venus Adepts, but the first one smells worse than the new one.  Not that it matters: I hate them both.  In fact, there's two Adepts of each element.  That's just bloody wonderful.  Well, if they're gonna gang up on me, they're just begging for a multi-target attack.  Wait, I bet you're thinking Briar or something totally weak, right?

WRONG.  PUNGI STRIKE, BABY!!!

What?!  You live with Slayers long enough, you pick up a few things!  You think I WANT these losers to capture me?!  NO WAY!!!  So while they're all reeling, I try for an Annihilation on the redhead with the staff.  I know, sounds brutal, but I figured it would only knock her out for a few minutes at best.  I mean, she IS an Adept, and they never stay down long enough for my taste.

But I never get a chance to connect.  Another Adept with a flaming hairdo comes out of nowhere and hits me with an axe that feels like it's ON FIRE?!  OWWWW?!?!

So I hit the ground smoking and don't move, partially out of fear of further injury, and partially because I don't want to start a forest fire by rolling everywhere.  Of course, Mr. Flaming Axe Punk didn't think of that.  He probably couldn't care less about the forest.  He certainly doesn't care that much about ME.

"Oh, it's hurt, the poor thing," says a gentle voice above me, and I look up to see two faces with an alarming amount of sea-blue hair.  The girl is the one that spoke, and she carefully places a hand on my side.  Normally I'd be a bit testy about Adepts touching me, but right then, I was just glad I could feel ANYTHING at that point.  The pain dulled somewhat, but not enough to make me forget Axe Punk.  Oh, I'm gonna pay him back GOOD one day.  I swear it!  Ow.  Swearing hurts…

Finally, the first Venus Adept comes over and kneels in front of me.  The other one is standing protectively over the redhead I went after.  Amazingly, the redhead's giving Axe Punk a tongue-lashing.  I don't know why she's on my side all of a sudden.  Anyway, my Adept (I hate to call him that, but I'll make up a name later) scoops me up and tucks me under his arm.  For the first time since he showed up, I feel safe, and I can even sense that my strength retuning to me.  My first instinct is to take on Axe Punk right then, but from the fearful look on his face, the redhead is gonna beat me to it.  I decide that I like her lots, and make a mental note to apologize later.

"Sorry about the rude awakening," my Adept says in calm voice that echoes throughout his body and sends shivers up my back.  "We didn't want to hurt you.  It's just that we need your help."

"Just keep THAT guy away from me and you've got a deal," I reply, glaring at Axe Punk.

My Adept smiles warmly and brushes my head with gloved fingers.  For some reason, he doesn't smell as bad up close, either.  "Agreed.  I'm Felix."

"Petra.  I've never seen this many Adepts together at once."

"We're an odd group, but an effective one."

I aim a glare at him.  "I notice you've caught quite a few of my siblings."

"Caught?  I think you misunderstand, Petra.  Your brothers and sisters choose to join us.  Some only do so after we defeat them in battle, but we never force them to."

I shoot him a disbelieving glance.  "I'll find that out for myself later.  I'd rather hear it from them."

"Fair enough.  Would you like to join them now, or stay out in the open with me?"

It's odd that he's giving me the choice.  Maybe to lull me into a false sense of security.  But if I'm ever gonna spring my sibs, I have to stay on my toes.  That means learning the strengths and weaknesses of these Adepts.  Maybe my sibs know, but I'd rather watch them for a little while.  Just to be safe.

"I'll stay out, if it's all the same to you, buddy boy."

He pauses and looks down at me.  "You're…not like the other Djinn we've encountered…"

"You telling me they didn't make you work for it?!" I demand at once.  

"Oh, no.  It's just that you seem…more independent.  You must have lived out here for some time."

I narrow my baby blues at him.  "If you're trying to imply something about my age…"

"Perish the thought."  Felix blinks and sighs.  "Maybe I should just stop talking?"

"Works for me."  I scamper up to his shoulder, where I have a better view of things.

The girl with the water hair drifts back into my line of sight.  "Are you okay?" she asks, sounding really concerned.

"I can think of better ways to lose a fight," I reply.  "But I'm fine."

She smiles brightly.  "Thank goodness!"  She pauses and leans forward, lowering her voice to a conspirator's whisper.  "I've always thought Garet was an absolute menace with that axe.  He's friendly enough once you're used to him, but he can come off as a bit of a brute at first."

"The thought never entered my mind," I answer dryly.  "Of course, blows to the head tend to limit thought."

I was talking about myself, but Water Girl looks at Axe Punk and barely stifles a giggle behind her hand.  "Oh, I know exactly what you mean, dear."  She reaches up to pat my head.  "Welcome to the team, Petra."

* * * * *

The next few hours are too horrible to mention.  Basically, the Adepts travel the land, killing whatever gets in their way.  Thankfully, there are no more Djinn around these parts, though I do overhear one of my Venus brethren—Echo—talking about the newly acquired Gasp and Aroma.  Felix and the redhead do most of the fighting, but they never summon Djinn for "random" encounters.  For one thing, they're too strong to even need us.  At least, their weapons are, anyway.  Honestly, I don't see how much help I can be when they have meteor swords and goddess swords (the redhead's sword smells distinctly like dragon droppings to me, but apparently I'm the only one that notices).  

We finally come upon a HUGE ship parked in a river.  Felix explains that it belongs to Piers (who I've dubbed Water Boy for obvious reasons), and adds that it can fly when they all combine their Psyenergy.  I'm not too thrilled about the idea myself.  I mean, if one of the people they have to depend upon to fly the ship is Axe Punk, I'd rather take my chances with the Turtle Dragons and Hydras.  I express my concern to Felix, and he makes a noise that's either a suppressed laugh, a cough, or a grunt.  He tells me that they've had plenty of practice and that we'll be fine.

Of course, he's right.  Other than when they stop to kill stuff, it's a very smooth ride.  Again, he and the redhead take care of the monsters, with the other Earth Boy pitching in every now and then.  The Wind Girl steps up occasionally, but only to summon Aroma or Ether to restore Psyenergy.

The first stop is this tiny town blocked from the sea by rocks, which we do actually fly over.  The boat doesn't tip over or hit anything, but I keep my eyes on Axe Punk the whole time.  I wouldn't have been at all surprised if he'd tried to tip us over just so I'd fall overboard.  But he was more likely afraid of the redhead tossing him right out after me.  I like her more and more as time goes by.

The town has nothing of any real interest.  The only reason we stop is to visit this really weird blacksmith.  I can't decide if he's blind, lame, deaf, stupid, lazy, or all of the above.  He only forges ONE thing at a time, which usually takes him no more than two minutes, but only if we leave the town and get into a fight.  Otherwise, it takes all of five minutes.  And THEN, the idiot NEVER makes what Felix asks for.  If we ask for armor, he gives us weapons, and vice versa.  It was so frustrating that I thought about Punji-ing him into next week.  Eventually, though, we get what we want, and by then, it's getting dark.

The Adepts decide to spend the night in a nearby town called Alhafra.  The inn is warm and cozy for them, but it's stuffy and confining to me.  But then, nearly every place inside is to a nature spirit…at least, that's what Felix says.  I don't know why, but I feel like I can trust most of the things he says.  Of course, that's probably how he brainwashed my siblings into servitude.  Silky words can sugarcoat anything, if you're fool enough to keep listening.  But I know better, and nobody's gonna con ME that easily.

* * * * *

At great personal risk, I decide to "join" my Venus siblings for a while that night.

The process itself is fairly simple, for both Djinni and Adept.  They merely tuck us away in some kind of pocket universe that exists within or alongside the obvious one.  Believe me, "pocket" is a good word for it, because the first thing I see is darkness.  Gradually, the sparkling blue eyes of my sibs come into view, followed by the rest of their little brown, striped bodies.

They all rush over to welcome me, like it's my birthday or something.  The poor dears don't even realize that they're slaves; it's worse than I thought.  I feel worst for the youngest, a little sweetheart named Crystal.  She's so excited to have a new big sister to look up to.  Seeing her bounce around like a little jumping bean only makes me more determined to preserve her innocence.  I have to save her.  I have to save them all.  But it's harder than it sounds.

The ringleader of the younger group is Echo, who has been with Felix the longest.  The old sage (but not really) is Flint, who is partnered with Isaac (the other Venus Adept).  If I'm ever going to win them all over, I have to get through to these two.  Unfortunately, this proves to be utterly impossible; both Echo & Flint are hardheaded and extremely loyal to their Adepts.  Echo especially berates me for doubting Felix's good intentions, and claims that I should be more grateful to my Adept for reuniting me with the others.

Well, THAT went well.  I decide to try starting a little lower on the totem pole.  But that proves fruitless, too.  A little one named Flower seems at least partially interested in what I have to say (I suspect because she simply wants to enjoy her namesake freely again), but no one else listens.  If they don't want to escape, I can hardly force them to.  My only hope now is either to convince Djinn of another element to revolt, or to find an Adept sympathetic enough to understand my plight.  Water Girl seems the most likely candidate, so I decide to try her first.

* * * * *

Felix thinks nothing of the fact that I want to explore the inn for a little while.  He merely says to call if I need help and goes to bed.  Amazing how blindingly he trusts the idea that I'll just return on my own, isn't it?  Granted, I'd like to do that in order to save my family, but I'm starting to think they're a lost cause.  If I can't free them, at least I can help some other Djinn regain their freedom.

Strangely enough, Water Girl isn't in her room.  But I can still sense Mercury Djinn nearby, so I track them to the eastern shore.  There, I find something very unexpected.

Water Girl is sitting on the shore, humming softly to herself and glowing like a blue candle.  At least, that's what it looks like from a distance.  But as I get closer, I find all the Mercury Djinn surrounding her, listening attentively and providing the blue light.  Not one of them moves the whole time, and it's easy to mistake them for little garden gnomes.  When the song ends, I assume they all get up and go back to the inn.  Instead, Water Girl curls up on the shore and allows the Djinn to swarm her.  I get a spark of hope; they're turning on her and trying to escape!  But when they all stop moving, the truth hits me: they're not struggling, they're actually sleeping!

To confirm my suspicions, I go over and kick one of them awake.  She's understandably grumpy when I ask if she's interested in joining the revolution to escape from the Adepts.

"Why would I want to do that?" she asks.  "We all love Mia.  We don't ever want to leave her."

"But aren't you angry that she's enslaved you?!" I positively shout.  "Think beyond the brainwashing!"

"YOU'RE the one that sounds brainwashed," she grunts, closing her eyes in an attempt to shut me out.

* * * * *

By the time I get back to the inn, the hopelessness of my situation has set in.  At this point, I've given up on freeing anyone but myself.  They're all just in too deep.  Maybe if I'd gotten to them sooner, but now it's too.  I have to go alone.

But even as I turn my back to leave, all I can see are Crystal and Flower's bright blue eyes sparkling with admiration.  I can't just leave them without saying goodbye.  For a brief moment, I consider knocking them out and dragging them with me, but I know they would only slow me down in the end.  Hopefully, Echo will look after them, even if he is nuts.

As I make my way through the inn, I notice there's someone sitting near a fireplace.  Upon closer inspection, I realize it's the redhead from our group.  I figure I'll never see her again, so I decide to apologize for attacking her (or trying to, anyway).

She manages to spot me before I can get closer.  "Hey, Petra.  What are you doing up so late?"

"Couldn't sleep," I respond easily.  Which isn't totally false, as I haven't really tried yet.  "You?"

"My Djinn got jealous and wanted to stretch when Mia went out," she explains, gesturing to the fireplace.

I then realize that the flames there aren't actually flames, but Mars Djinn bouncing around happily and getting soot everywhere.  A few of them pause to greet me, but most of them keep right on dancing.  I feel a pang of sorrow for my Slayer buddies, who are either dead or scattered about Hesperia by now.  At some point I find myself sitting next to the redhead, but the next thing I know, I'm lying in her lap while she strokes my sides.

"I was wondering how long it would be before you tried to run," she says softly.  "From the moment I first saw you, I knew you weren't like the others.  I could tell that you were meant to be free."

"And you couldn't have mentioned that BEFORE Felix came after me?" I ask, mildly irritated.

"Try to see it our way, Petra.  We're trying to save the world, but we're not strong enough on our own.  We need you Djinn to increase our power."

"You seem strong enough to me."

"Sometimes it's not how much power you have, but what kind," she points out.  "For example, if we didn't have any Venus Adepts in our group, no matter how strong we were, we couldn't enter Venus Lighthouse."

"But you've still got plenty of Venus Djinn without me," I argue.

"Petra, we need all the Djinn we can get.  This is literally the end of the world we're talking about here.  But if being free means that much to you, then after our quest is done, I'll make Felix let you go."

"Just me?  No one else?" I ask, unable to hide my disappointment.  For a second, I thought we were really getting somewhere.

"Have you found anyone else that wants to leave?" she asks with a knowing smile.

"Well, no.  But they're brainwashed!  They don't know what's good for them!"

"Oh?  And which of us is doing the brainwashing, then?"

"Um…I don't know that yet," I'm forced to admit.

"And who have you seen use your fellow Djinn like slaves, or force them to do something they didn't want to do?"

"Uh…no one?'

"So what makes you think we're mistreating them, Petra?  Has anyone done anything to you?"

"Heck yeah!  Axe Punk tried to kill me!"

She laughs.  "You mean Garet?  He was only trying to protect me.  He's also not very good at expressing himself, so he tends to release his frustration through battle.  Sorry if he unleashed a little too much in your direction, but you ARE stronger than most Djinn we've encountered in battle."

"And why do you think we fight in the first place?"

The redhead stares down at me for a long moment.  "Because you're afraid," she says at last.  "Your natural instincts are to roam and be free.  Of course you're going to fight anyone who opposes that.  But by defeating a Djinni, we don't just prove we're stronger.  We show that we're warriors who are serious about what we're doing, and that we'll do whatever it takes to convince them that we need their help.  No one is going to enslave you, Petra.  We just need your help desperately."

"You ever heard of asking?" I snap.

"We both know that wouldn't work with you.  There are some Djinn that join us without a fight, but you don't seem like one of them.  And that just means that it's even more important that we have your strength in the end."

"You're making it awful hard not to like you, Red," I say after a few minutes of silence.

"My name is Jenna, and I sometimes have that effect on people," she replies.  "Now, are you going to stay and help us out, or do I have explain to Felix why he's short one Djinni in the morning?"

"I'll stay on ONE condition."

"I'm listening…"

* * * * *

Garet let out a huge yawn as he climbed out of bed and began to get dressed.

Unfortunately for him, he never got that far.

Just as he reached the chair where his clothes were sitting, the door was kicked open.  There was a sound not unlike "HIYAAA!!!" followed a golden flash of light.

Garet felt no pain, only an overwhelming sense of numbness.  After that, it seemed like he had fallen asleep again.

By the time Felix and the others came running, the attacker was gone.  All they found was an open window, and, far below, a very lifelike statue of Garet stuck in a huge mud puddle.

Isaac was going to use Mind Read on the inn's other travelers, but Jenna suggested he try it on the statue.  That got quite a few looks, but no one had any better ideas, so they went to try it out.

When they were gone, Jenna grinned and whispered, "How long does your spell lasts, Petra?  I don't think you told me."

There was a brief moment of silence before an unseen voice replied wickedly, "I didn't, did I?"

The End.

Yes, I'm totally serious.  It's over.  But to make up for it, what follows is a preview of my first Garet-centric story.  Enjoy!

A Peek At: Sweet & Sour

It was now or never, Garet knew.  His friends were all seated around the inn's main table, reliving their adventures with grinning faces.  This would ruin their mood, most likely, but there was nothing for it.

As Garet made his way over to them, Mia caught his eye, and he could almost see the dread welling up in her heart.  Could it be that she knew what he was planning?  No, that was impossible.  There was no way she could've followed him into the forest, not with the way he ran.  And he hadn't spoken of his plans since.  But why else would she be looking at him with such obvious worry?

Before he could even think to open his mouth, Mia leaped to her feet.

"Garet, could I speak with you in private for a moment?" she asked, her eyes pleading with him to say yes.

He paused and gaped at her, not sure what to say at first.  "Uh…yeah, sure," Garet responded after a long moment.

There was something like relief in Mia's eyes as she took his hand and led him outside.

Garet threw a glance back at Isaac and Ivan, who were staring after them in obvious confusion.  Garet mouthed, "I don't know," and shrugged.  Isaac nodded, but Ivan did something that disturbed Garet to no end, for some reason.

He smiled.

* * * * *

"Garet, can I put my trust in you?"

It was such an odd question, and it came so suddenly, that Garet had to ask her to repeat it.

"Can I put my trust in you?" Mia asked again.

"…this is what you wanted to talk to me about?" 

"Garet, please answer the question," she insisted, that worried look returning to her eyes.

Garet hated the fact that he made her feel that way, so he did as she asked.  "Yes.  I mean, if you want to tell me something in confidence, I wouldn't tell anyone else."

Mia smiled.  "That's not what I meant, but it's a start.  What I meant was, if I give you something, can you keep it safe for me?"

He was at once immensely relieved.  Garet had feared she might throw herself at him and beg him not to leave.  Much as he didn't like Mia, the last thing he wanted to do was make her cry.  He wasn't sure if could handle being responsible for a beautiful girl's—well, any girl's—tears. 

"Sure, I can do that," Garet replied—but instantly realized that by making that statement, he'd unknowingly made it impossible for him to leave the group now.

"Oh, good!  I was hoping you'd say that."  Mia held out her hands, as if she expected him to give her something.  Without warning, a Mercury Djinni appeared in her hands.  "When you left me today, I stumbled upon this little one.  You see, I already have seven Djinn, and so I need someone to look after her.  I want that someone to be you."

Yes!  That's ALL you get for now!  SUFEER!!!  Don't worry, I've got 3.5 pages done already…


End file.
